Everything has made its way onto social media nowadays. We scroll through our feeds and see a variety of different content–fashion advice, celebrity drama, cat videos, and now we even see influencers creating content geared towards a political audience. From all sides of the political spectrum we are seeing more and more influencers, mainly of the younger crowd, creating videos about their beliefs and the government as a whole.
While some of the information these influencers are spreading can be valuable and resourceful, there are always dangers with trusting strangers with political news or opinions. Some of these influencers may be professional, with a degree in the realm of government or politics, or in a political career, but there are some who have little knowledge of the professional side of politics. A lot of this information could be coming from biased sources stemming from their own political party. Bias is a crucial factor to pay attention to while receiving any sort of political information online, as it skews the belief to one side or another.
Paying close attention and holding space for faults in content posted by political influencers helps to filter out misinformation or biases online. For the most part, it is more beneficial to crafting educated opinions by first researching using professional sources and outlets. These types of sources are often non-partisan and data driven, such as the Pew Research Center and The Odum Institute. After we have gained what we deem significant research about what it is we are looking for, then we can find influencers who have spoken out about those topics. Within doing this, we are able to see different perspectives without holding bias at the beginning of our research.
Political influencers are not dangerous, and can actually be very helpful for individuals who are looking to learn more about what is happening within our country. However, it is important to remember the possible biases that are held by many of these influencers who believe strongly in one of the parties. Going into this content acknowledging possible differences in beliefs allows us to actually benefit from these videos, rather than consuming information that may not be true or reliable.
Social media platforms are never where research should begin or end. If you are looking to improve your political knowledge on certain individuals or topics of discussion, utilizing professional sources ensures we are receiving the correct information, rather than swimming through the sea of bias.
